You don't know what you're talking about. You don't -

[Deep breaths. Lots of deep breaths. Losing his temper is not helpful.]

Earning Mastery at eighteen, passing the exams out of nowhere... No-one would speak to me before because they thought I was a bumbling fool. After the exams, no-one would speak to me because they were afraid. After the Ordeal of Sorcery they began to make the Sign when I passed them in the hall.

I was alone through their making, not mine.